Arab Convicted of Stealing Rifles from British. Sentenced to Six Years

July 14, 1944

JERUSALEM (Jul. 13)

A member of an Arab company in a Palestine transport unit attached to the British Army was sentenced today to six years in prison for stealing ten rifles which he turned over to Arab civilians. The prisoner discussed in details the methods of stealing arms from the British forces.

His sentence was in sharp contrast to those meted out by military courts to Jews convicted of less serious breaches of the arms law. Jews have been sentenced to as much as 12 years imprisonment for possession of a single revolver and a few bullets. Leib Sirkin, who was convicted last October of selling rifles and ammunition stolen from the British, received a ten-year sentence, although the prosecution failed to prove conclusively that he ever had the arms in his possession.